Movie Review | Take This Waltz: Attraction turns tango into triangle

Friday

Jul 13, 2012 at 12:01 AMJul 20, 2012 at 2:07 PM

About the anatomy of a love triangle, Take This Waltz is reminiscent, in some ways, of Away From Her - the filmmaking debut of director Sarah Polley. Unlike the 2006 film, which centers on an older man coming to terms with the relationship that his senile wife has begun with a fellow nursing-home patient, Waltz focuses on the beginning of love, not the end.

About the anatomy of a love triangle, Take This Waltz is reminiscent, in some ways, of Away From Her  the filmmaking debut of director Sarah Polley.

Unlike the 2006 film, which centers on an older man coming to terms with the relationship that his senile wife has begun with a fellow nursing-home patient, Waltz focuses on the beginning of love, not the end.

Well, yes and no.

In the gorgeously photographed, mostly sure-footed new drama, freelance writer Margot (Michelle Williams) is happily married to cookbook author Lou (Seth Rogen).Then, when she meets handsome neighbor Daniel (Luke Kirby), Margot feels a stirring she hasnt felt in years.Although her growing attraction to Daniel implies, of necessity, a pulling away from Lou, Take This Waltz gives short shrift to the dissolution of the marriage  instead emphasizing the addictive nature of her sudden and unexpected lust for Daniel. The film, in one sense, offers almost a distaff take on the theme of Shame (2011), starring Michael Fassbender as a sexually compulsive businessman.

Sister-in-law Geraldine (Sarah Silverman), a recovering alcoholic, suggests such a link, comparing the compulsive behavior of Margot to her own.

Polley  who also wrote the smart, nuanced script  drives the point home elsewhere.In the most sexy and powerful scene, over drinks at a bar, Daniel simply tells Margot what hed like to do to her  at length and lingeringly.Polley visually underscores the sensation of such a thrilling, dizzying monologue by saturating the film, which is set during summertime in a hip neighborhood of Toronto, with warm light and vibrant, swirling colors.The growing romantic intoxication of Margot is palpable.

By contrast, the contours of her relationship with Lou are sketched less vividly.Polley, adept at suggestion and implication, makes clear that not just complacency but friction exists between Margot and Lou. Yet the precise nature of their problems is left vague.During the scene in which Margot finally confesses her feelings about Daniel to Lou, Polley eliminates the sound  showing only the face of Rogen through a series of takes, with his expressions running the gamut from anger, disbelief and self-blame to acceptance.

The performances of Rogen and Silverman, known for comedy, are delightful and surprising. In another star turn from one of the best young actresses today, Williams  from whom greatness is expected  is soulful. And, as Daniel, Kirby is charming and easy on the eyes  but, as something more than a pretty face, not entirely convincing.I want to know what you do to me, Margot tells him.So does the audience.Which might be the point: that sexual attraction is a mystery.